Telephone subscriber&#39;s set illumination



Dec. 7, 1948. Q SHANN 2,455,816

TELEPHONE SUBSCRIBERS SE I'I' ILLUMINATION Filed Aug. 23, 1946 lNVENTOR 0. A. SHA lV/V 2ND sue. ssr' v 52 J E A 7' TORNEV Patented Dec. 7, 19 48 PATENT- OFFICE:

TELEPHONEITSUBSGRIBERSSET" ILIiUMINATION' Oscacm-A. Shunn;.:rShbrt Hills, N. J., assignor to Belle Telephone 7 Laboratories, 1 Ineorporataed,v

' "pm-s invention relate's to improvements in sab spiaoeci desks-'in'which easeth'e ringing of a pair tid llar' fphbne, "may eanse considerable confusion before.fitfisidniiifid: Further there arear v mehiz's shch as in hospitals where it is desire albl that, noa bell be :mngf,alfltlfw'herein it is desir abletcfiirdwfida visual signal; 'Thefeare also arrangements wherein "two subscriber te'l'e phi; s1 may each" have independent lines 'co'nnefetedffor instance to aprivate hranqh'exchange; olifiiflafily" located" on" the same premises and w rein/the twyojsets' and"the.two lines may 'be ar ljahged bymeanjsloi"a, switch so that-either may atjflifne'sgreeivee Calls primari y intended f or the other. 'Itis' sometimes'desirable'bejfore respond he. calLunder such circumstances 'to'k'now h off-the two, lines the call is incoming. ntiatibn between calling" signals "is at "es effected bymeans of bells or'buzzefrs having rent. distinguishabletones. This is not "satie- I dryiior ailcasesl "Forrinstance; the e-number 1 table distinguishable t'ones' available may bel s'lthah' the n mber of 'telephone'sets tobe dif's'ihg'nisheghwh'erfthere-are a large number of tlmflhuhlst's... Forithiese and for other reasons it islid abi at times topmv'ide' a .vislial'sig'nal. entity aueallledteljephone set or to provide mflreth'an one. iiis'ua'lms'ignail to identi'fya partieue' lanaone-ofia number of Jihesconnectedto a single. set; L Anrangements are presently known" in the,,,art fonproyliding a visualesignal to indieate that-a pantieularatelephone set .is being signallede Howe even, the visual-"signal.arrangement of the present invention; w-hieh thepresent embodiment. is ineorporatedxin a e-lwelleknow-n telephone set com ppising avbase" anch-handset, affords a number ofadaantages overngreeently known arrangements;

fl-hief these! advantages is ::that it dispenses with :t-hee necessity? formounting the relatively iragile innandescentxelectricdamp;and the: lamp mmtrohequipment in-ethe hand-set whichwlatterras isswefisiknown; .1- frequently; dropped Whi 1e:.zi't:";iS beingg'znmiipnlatedze A$gisz-egeneraliyaunderstood while i-thei-mod e rniincandescent electric "lamp givesa longusef l servi cewhen; securedin afixed position -it--is relatively fragile when subjectedto shock such-as that-caused by droppinga handset inwhichitismounted.

Another advantage. is that the elimination ofthee lamp together with its control. relayw and,

mounting (apparatus fromthe-"handset eliminate the DGCGSSityfQI .increasing the vnormal weight of the handset! 7 An object of the presentinyentionis the 1m,- proveme t1 oflsubseripeee telephone sets:

' m0; 7 t LmQEQVQ ent,-of :visi1a1 sigr;ra1 arrangements in subscribers teiephonesets.

The- ;fionegoingeadvantages and: objectives are attained intherembodiment exemplifying the in-M yengtion by eneanseofea light oonducting ehannel, eotnpni /i g aevpl urality ot light conducting elements argr need it series;- between a control-led sofl'rce of .ihhtwrgithin the-wbaser-ofa subscri-bers;

telephone :set andra prominent portion of the suriaeeofga handsetsunmounting, the .base; The elemeats mefemably have rtheslig'ht conducting propentizes' of huoitevand:\vtll-abetermed hereinafter 611086-1136. the ffiolilowingideseriptions when read. with nefier'enoe Ptoi the associated? drawings which de-- seribeeand; ii'l lhstl ate afpreferred embodiment :in

which the present invention is incorporated. In.

the dcmawings:-

wee of sufb'soriber s' 'telephone set, comprising a and handset; Which-shone a preferred locaiii-two light conducting 'b'ezeis' on the p Remy oft'he han set Fig: 2 'i s'a sidevie'wpartiyj in 'section showing he htr sh e e-1 m; a" light conducting nd iieht ond ctin r d erm tin Lin a lo fon'thetsur'iaeeof the handset; J

a F i'ysho gv sv analternativeshapeof light con- Clil bt gsb'ezel on the handset surface; and Fig}. showslohe typeof .circuit with which the invention may be employed. t

lief re Drodeeriingwith aedetai-led description of. theimzention, it is particularly pointed out -thar, ol d-inariiy a. single. visuai sign-a1 i will be incore noratedin telephones-set. lnieertain-instaiiatier-is m e, will heerngoloyeel.v .Ini.-. the o an: arrangement wherein twov visual signals..apenemp1omedmis2 described, and such an amangement isilljufit'llfi'tfid' inwthe;v drawings; Whemar'si-naiewisuaiesignal iSii-SEITJpIQyCQL-ES;"Will papticulareobjeet of the invention is be obvious from the following, one may be eliminated.

Refer now to Figs. 1, 2 and 4 which show a hollow pedestal or base I in which various ringing and switching apparatus associated with the telephone set is mounted and a handset 2 all of a type well known in the art. The basic features of construction of the base and handset may be the same as those illustrated in Patent 2,351,459 granted to me on June 13, 1944, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference as though fully setforth herein. The present invention may be considered and improvement over the invention disclosed in Patent 2,351,459.

The upper portion of the hollow base I which houses the cooperating apparatus is formed into a cradle 3 in which the handset 2 is supported when in the normal idle condition. When the handset is in the normal idle condition, the weight of the handset depresses two light conducting plungers 4 and 5, indicated in Fig. 4 at the right-hand and left-hand portions of the cradle as indicated. Plungers 4 and 5 are normally urged upwardly through engagement of their lower surfaces with the left-hand end of a lever element 6 which controls the switching contacts. The element 6 is in turn urged upwardly by a spring. A description of the details of these elements are not necessary to an understanding of the present invention. They are disclosed in Patent 2,351,459 mentioned in the foregoing.

In vertical alignment with each of light conducting plungers 4 and 5 are light conducting rods such as I which terminate in individual polished light conducting bezels 8 and 38 on the upper surface of the handset. The bezels such as 8 are each preferably formed with the rod 1 out of a single piece of light conducting material, but may, if desired, be separate from the rod. The upper surface of the bezel such as 8 conforms to the periphery of the handset 2. The bezel may be of any desired shape, but preferably extends laterally across the top and projects downwardly on both the front and rear of the hand grip portion of the handset as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, so, that when the bezel is illuminated it may readily be observed from a considerable distance. As illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 the outline of the surface of the bezel on the handset is approximately rectangular and in Fig. 3, alternatively, it is circular.

Two V-shaped brackets l are secured to the upper portion of the inner rear wall of the base in any convenient manner. Mounted individually on each of the two brackets I9 is a lamp base H secured in which is a lamp l2. The lamp is preferably shielded or coated in any convenient manner so that light is emitted from only a small area at its end portion. A portion such as l3 of the light conducting plungers 4 and intermedi ate their ends is reduced in section and an area such as 14 of the upper surface of the reduced section in juxtaposition with the left-hand end of the lamp individual thereto, when the plunger is depressed, is polished as are the upper horizontal surfaces of the plungers 4 and 5 and the lower surfaces of the rods such as I. The bracket such as l0, lamp base ll, lamp l2 and reduced section i3 are'so-positioned that the small area of the lamp from which the light is emitted when the lamp is illuminated is juxtaposed the polished area of the reduced section 14 of the corresponding light conducting plunger. The surface of each plunger is preferably shielded or coated in any convenient manner so that it is impervious to light except through the small polished area I4. Thus when a particular lamp is lighted a single bezel is illuminated.

The lamp such as [2 is illuminated in any convenient manner in response to the application of the calling signal condition. For such condition the plungers are in the normal depressed position. The light passes through the small unshielded area of the lamp through the unshielded polished area I4 of the plunger, through the plunger such as 4, through the contiguous polished surfaces such as l5 and [6 of the plunger 4 and the rod 1 and illuminates the surface 8 of the bezel. When the bezel 8 is shaped and positioned as indicated and the illuminating circuit and the light conducting path are of proper power and area the lighted surface of the bezel may be observed from a considerable distance. For certain installations, however, where the telephone set is located for instance at a particular desk and is to be answered only by a party seated at the desk and where it is preferable that the calling signal be inconspicuous, a very small bezel may be employed. 7

While ordinarily the visual signal of the present invention will be employed in conjunction with the usual audible signal such as a ringer or buzzer it is to be understood that it may be employed without the audible signal. The visual arrangement of the invention herein provides a convenient means of limiting the range of visibility and thus, when the visual signal is used alone, of the range of comprehension of the calling signal. It is contemplated that in certain secret installations suchas in a military outpost the size of the illuminable bezel may be very small and the range of comprehension of the signal no more than a few feet. I

It is contemplated that for most installations only a single light conducting bezel and associated rod, plunger and lamp will be provided for each telephone set. For the normal arrangement therefore only one plunger'will be required to be of light conducting material and the other may be constructed of the usual material employed therefor.

It is particularly pointed out that when the present invention is employed with an audible signal a number of combinations of the two are possible which are readily available to those skilled in the art. Forinstance, itis contemplated that the associated subscriber telephone circuit may be arranged so that in response to a single short ring the bezel is illuminated, and remains illuminated as long as the calling party remains on the line, and is then extinguished.

The details of suitable subscriber telephone set circuits for energizing a single lamp and illuminating a single bezel are shown in Patent Number 2,298,207 granted to E. W. Gent, October 6, 1942, Figs. 6 and 7 and Patent 2,298,207 is incorporated herein by reference as though fully set forth herein. It is particularly pointed out that when the subscriber's telephone set circuits of Patent 2,298,207, Figs. 6 and 7 are employed with the arrangement of the present invention the lamp 28 and the ringer l1 shown in each of Figs. 6 and 7 of Patent 2,298,207 are not located in the handset but are located in the hollow supporting base I with the lamp juxtaposed the area M as shown in Fig. 2 herein.

In the arrangement per Fig. 4 herein, a'circuit is shown which is suitable for use in cases where a first subscribers line circuit is connected to a first subscribertelephone set and a second subscriber line circuit is connected to a second subscriber telephone set and is multipled to the first subscriber telephone set and discrimination between the two lines is provided by illumination of a particular one of two bezels in the first telephone handset.

The two subscriber telephone set circuits may for instance be in accordance with Patent 2,298,207, Fig. 6 but having thelamp I2 in Fig. 4, which corresponds to lamp 28 in Patent 2,298,207, Fig. 6 located in the base of the set juxtaposed the area M of the light conducting plunger. Conductors 2| and 22 may extend from a first subscriber line circuit at a private branch exchange, or P. B. X as it is known in the art (not shown) through the normally closed contacts of a doublepole two-position switch into the base of the first subscriber telephone set where the talking circuit is normally open at the contacts of switch 23, and the audible and .visual signal circuit is closed from conductor Ll, through conductor 24, condenser 25, ringer 26 in parallel with the filament of lamp l2, and conductor 21 to conductor L2. When an alternating potential is applied to conductors 29 and 2| the ringer 25 and the lamp 12 are simultaneously energized. The light of the lamp is conducted through the light channel from the interior of the base to illuminate the bezel on the upper surface of the handset while the ringing signal persists. When the switch 23 is actuated the calling signal circuit is shunted by the talking path.

Conductors and 3! are two conductors incoming from a second subscriber line circuit. These conductors first terminate in the second subscriber set which is identical with that shown in detail in Fig. 4 herein and in Fig. 6 of Patent 2,298,207 except that the incoming conductors 30' ing circuit through the switch in the second set are multipled through conductors 32 and 33 to the open make contacts of switch 22 and a second lamp circuit is connected by means of conductors 34 and 35 to a second lamp 36 juxtaposed the polished area of the second light conducting plunger 5 of the first subscriber set.

In response to an alternating potential impressed on conductors 30 and 3| the ringer and lamp in the second subscriber set will be energized and simultaneously the lamp in the first set and the bezel associated therewith will be illuminated. If the second subscriber set is not answered switch 22 is operated and the call is taken on the first subscriber set.

What is claimed is:

1. In a subscriber telephone set, in combination, a base porton, a hand telephone set mounted on said base portion, a source or light within said base portion and a light conducting channel, said channel comprising a plurality of juxtaposed light conducting elements, extending from said light source to the exterior or said base portion, then 6 through said handset to a prominent portion of its surface.

2. In a subscriber telephone set, in combination, a base portion, a hand telephone set mounted on said base portion, a source of light within said base portion, a light conducting element within said base portion, extending to the exterior of said base portion, a light conducting element in said telephone set, said elements having a portion of the surface of one juxtaposed a portion of the surface of the other, so that light may be conducted from the interior of said base to a prominent portion of the surface of said handset.

3. In a subscriber telephone set, in combination, a base portion, a hand telephone set mounted on said base portion, a source of light within said base portion, a first light conducting element within said base portion, a second light conducting element in said handset, said elements disposed so as to conduct light from said source to a prominent portion of the surface of said handset.

4. In a subscriber telephone set, in combination, a base, a hand telephone set mounted on said base, a source of light within said base, a light conducting plunger juxtaposed said source, a light conducting element in said hand telephone set juxtaposed said plunger, said element communicating with the exterior surface of said hand telephone set, said source, plunger and element constituting a light channel extending from said source within said base through said plunger. through said element, to the exterior surface of said hand telephone set.

5. In a subscriber telephone set, in combination, a hollow base portion for accommodating telephone switching and signalling apparatus, a hand telephone set comprising a unitar transmitter and receiver interconnected by a hand grip portion mounted on said base, said base impervious to light, a source of light within said base, a light conducting plunger extending from within said base to the exterior of said base, said plunger actuable by said set, a light conducting element in said set juxtaposed said plunger, said source, plunger and element constituting alight channel to conduct light [from said source within said base to the upper exterior surface of said set and means for energizing said light source and illuminating said surface in response to a telephone calling signal.

OSCAR A. SHANN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,971,227 Maxwell Aug. 21, 1934 2,222,476 Caroselli Nov. 19, 1940 2,298,207 Gent et a1. Oct. 6, 1942 2,316,540 Danley et a1 Apr. 13, 1943 2,325,185 Kate July 27, 1943 2,351,459 Shann June 13, 1944 

